L E T   'E R    R I P !!!!

What have you done to the site? It is suddenly full of Flash junk and doesn't render properly.

Same here. I noticed that too. Half the content is now covered by the ads?

Anyways my comment for the day regards 250 content. Something I think would be neat would be a perspectives section where perspectives from various walks of life could be rendered for comment.

Some examples would be the perspective of a cop in his duties, a doctor in the emergency room, a trash bin diver doing their business, a gangster from their perspective, maybe even a hooker and a teacher, and a priest, and a flag person on the highway, or a city worker, and even students that could submit articles on their perspective of things they are studying, or the elderly on their life experiences they would like to share. We could all learn a lot from that type of reporting.

My suggestion would be to have a group of volunteer ghost writers (possibly english students) that could do interviews and write the perspective on behalf of those that can't write it themselves in some cases... but for the most part have people submit their own perspectives on any variety of subjects. I think it would be fascinating to learn what other people in other occupations or from other segments of society think about on a daily basis.

Currently we can express an opinion, but thats all reactionary... Hearing perspectives that are unique from unique people with unique concerns, issues, or observations engages the mind to new levels of understanding IMO and would be a great community builder. Maybe even a special section that has perspectives broken down between various subject subheadings, as well as regional affiliation, or what have you.....

I know we have to live with ads to support the site and keep it free for users...but there is so much stuff that moves it makes it difficult for folks with eye problems. It would be helpful if there were only 1 or 2 ads at a time that moved (not saying get rid of the ads or reducing the number of them - just try to keep the scrolling ones to a minimum)

While I'm looking at the site right now, there are 10 ads that are moving, all at the same time and often in different directions.

What ads?

Adblock Plus works wonders. Like qwaszxter, I'm a frequent visitor to the site.

Yes I agree with faxman, use Adblock Plus. I haven't used it but know people that do and it does work wonders.

qwaszxter: As for the width of the website not filling up the screen, do you have one of those new wide screen monitors? This is generally where the issue comes in and you may have to live with it (in respect to this site).

That issue is generally the website programers responsibility. That person has to code the width to adjust for different browser sizes.

This particular website appears to be set for a resolution of 800 X 600 pixels. I have a wide screen monitor also and this issue is not an issue with me. But if you'd like to fill up more of your screen you can do the following.

If you use Internet Explorer (most people do) then look down at the bottom right-hand corner. You should see a little magnifying glass with a "plus-sign" in it. Next to that you will see a little drop-down arrow (or in this case a drop down triangle). Click on the drop down arrow (triangle), a small menu will appear, now click on "Custom" down at the bottom of this menu and a small window will appear on your screen. When it does type 115 in the "Percentage zoom" area and hit Enter. You screen will resize to fill most of the screen. It's NOT perfect but for me it works for this site. You can play with the "Percentage zoom" numbers to see what works for you.

I'll warn you, the site does not render perfectly by doing this so if you don't like it then you'll have to live with it.

Just thought I'd pass along this info in case you never knew about it.

Wow...thanks for the tip.....I put mine on 125 and that makes such a difference.

By the way..thank you Ben & Elaine for posting the news as it happens.

I too despise flash ads moving and bouncing about while I'm trying to read content. The worst offender for this is Yahoo where they literally drop the flash ad on top of the content on purpose and you have to either wait for it to end or try and find the "close" button.

Does anyone actually click on web site ads?
They are like tv commercials, something to be ignored.

Most media have been used for advertising since making legible marks was discovered. Such a shame that we have to train ourselves to ignore a portion of our environment.

I know it is business that makes the world go around, but the incessant cacophony of hawkers and shills is overwhelming.

Every where we look we are assaulted with advertising. It is to the point where they are erecting more ad space. One cannot go for a nice drive in the country with out having the experience tainted by billboards.

Concerning this site: ditto on the too many ads. An irritation I have with this site is Quicktime having to be installed. I don't want Apple quick time on wintel system so quit forcing users install that POS software. I don't care that it enables some of the ads to be dynamic. This is a text base site so for your readerS and poster, STOP IT!

To zoom a web page, hold the control (ctrl) key located below each shift key, and use the wheel on your mouse. It is a windows thing that also works in MS word and MS Excel.

To learn more, press F1, the windows help key and search for "shortcut keys".

One little thing about adblock type software. It will no longer load an ad. If it does not load, then Ben and Elaine may not be able to tell their advertisers that their ads are seen by the numbers who actually log onto this site. In that case the advertisers will not pay ass much to Ben and Elaine, since they will not get the number of hits.

Remember, it is like TV and Radio in North America, it is free as long as they can get advertisers to buy space. Its sort of like paying taxes.

Hey, wait a minutes, this is the site where people complain about paying taxes, right? No wonder they also complain about ads. They are the ones who want everything for nothing.

I understand that the site needs to sell ads to make money and keep things running, and I'm perfectly ok with that. Like many other people have noted, they don't all need to be moving and flashing on the sides of my screen. Very distracting and annoying.

I suspect the next step are the ads that pop right in front of the content.

I haven't considered programs like adblock, but I may have to considering the way things seem to be going on here.

quote = gus
"One little thing about adblock type software. It will no longer load an ad. If it does not load, then Ben and Elaine may not be able to tell their advertisers that their ads are seen by the numbers who actually log onto this site. In that case the advertisers will not pay ass much to Ben and Elaine, since they will not get the number of hits."

The only info "Ben and Elaine" need to pass on to the advertisers is the number of unique visitors to their site; that's what advertisers are looking for. They expect a percentage of those visitors to ignore their ads; that's a gimme. They cannot tell that I am using AdBlock Plus; they have no idea the exact number of people that are or are not seeing the ads, they just know that some are and some aren't.

quote = gus
"One little thing about adblock type software. It will no longer load an ad. If it does not load, then Ben and Elaine may not be able to tell their advertisers that their ads are seen by the numbers who actually log onto this site. In that case the advertisers will not pay ass much to Ben and Elaine, since they will not get the number of hits."

The only info "Ben and Elaine" need to pass on to the advertisers is the number of unique visitors to their site; that's what advertisers are looking for. They expect a percentage of those visitors to ignore their ads; that's a gimme. They cannot tell that I am using AdBlock Plus; they have no idea the exact number of people that are or are not seeing the ads, they just know that some are and some aren't.

Sorry 'bout the double post. Seems that hitting refresh ended up resending the data. Which is odd.

I do agree with the moving ads because it is just one more piece of data that the computer needs to spend time on. The more you have of those on your computer at the same time, the more sluggish the computer becomes.

While computing power has increased tremendously, the more it increases, the more gimicks are thrown onto your computer eating up that newfound computing power and eventually you end up with a sluggish computer again.

Morning all and Happy Friday! Could all of you please look up Bill C6 that our government is trying to push through. It is not in the mainstream news. From what my son showed me it will take away some of our constitutional rights.
Also could you all please meet tomorow at noon in front of Pat Bells office on central if you are against HST. We really need to show ourselves and stand up united. There are people out there trying to help us and we need to help ourselves by supporting them.

Have a nice weekend all!

Some food for thought....sort of.

On Dr. Oz yesterday he showed a clip from The Discovery Channel that showed what happens when a toilet is flushed without lid being down. Tiny particles float through the air landing on surfaces all over your bathroom.....toothbrush. You all can use your imaginations what's in those water particles that can make you sick.

So for now on close the lid then flush.

blaaahhhhg.

"The only info "Ben and Elaine" need to pass on to the advertisers is the number of unique visitors to their site; that's what advertisers are looking for. They expect a percentage of those visitors to ignore their ads; that's a gimme. They cannot tell that I am using AdBlock Plus; they have no idea the exact number of people that are or are not seeing the ads, they just know that some are and some aren't."

I do not know Ben and Elaine's agreement with their advertisers. Nor do I know the sohistication of their ad tracking system.

If I was an advertiser on the internet, I would want to know more information than that. Tracking software these days will tell you how many times a particular image was downloaded, and even provide info on the approximate location of the viewer, if the viewer is not logged on from a proxy server.

There are also agreements which are based on the number of "click throughs". In other words, payment is made on the number of times someone will click onto an ad to go the the advertiser's web page or e-mail. The source of the click-through can also be detected so they know it comes from this site as opposed to sites B and C and D.

Here is a sample ad tracker software. Read it through and you can see how sophisticated it can get. Why has it gotten so sophisticated? Because the original systems did not tell you a thing and relied totally on the number of "hits".

http://www.sourcecodeonline.com/details/plasma_banner_advertiser_pro.html

BTW, in the old system, this page would get roughly 30 or so hits since each single downloadable file constitutes a "hit" as opposed to a "page view".

"Sorry 'bout the double post. Seems that hitting refresh ended up resending the data. Which is odd."

That always happens here. After posting, you need to leave the article and return before you can refresh it.

LOL Heidi! Thank you I will defenitely keep that in mind! Ewwwwwwwww *checking teeth

Why is Shirley Bond saying no to a toll on the Sea2Sky? Why was it ok to toll the Coquihalla but not the Sea2Sky? Considering how much was spent for the road for the rich how can it be stated that user fees are not appropriate? The Coquihalla and the Caribou Connector are both central highways used by alot of regular people. The Sea2Sky is for the wealthy (at least primarily). A much higher portion of the tolls would be payed by wealthy people with second homes in Whistler rather than the regular people that can maybe afford 1 trip to Whistler per season.

Lets go a step further? How about a toll on the Caribou connector if it actually gets the highway completed? I would glady pay $10 each way for a proper highway from PG to Van. What do people think of that?

"Some food for thought....sort of."

women's purses .... http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/12/20/women-beware-your-purses-could-be-making-you-sick.htm

Then there are shopping carts.
http://www.ky3.com/healthy/34372919.html

The other day a whole group of young teenagers from Japan landed at the airport. Most of them where outfitted with flu masks. Have they got it right?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3594073247_fd3ba7ca31_o.jpg

My problem is not the presence of ads per se. I use AdBlock Plus, but on sites that I like, if the ads are not too obnoxious, will unblock. What I don't like is: (a) Flash ads; and (b) the fact that the ads overlap the text no matter what magnification settings I use. This is with Firefox.

I have noticed that the site is not a quick to load as it once was,however,it does take a decent computer with a bit of power to run it properly.
Smaller computers tend struggle with it a bit,but it will work.
I would recommending upgrading your browsers,Java, etc.
Also,do a real good spyware scan as well.
You may be suprised at what you find,even it you think your computer is clean!

Your body needs contact with germs to build up its immune system. Things like hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial sprays have not been good for people IMO, and all they seem to do is make it easier for people to get sick because their immune systems don't get a chance to build themselves up. I'm not suggesting everyone lick the inside of a toilet, but some people need to relax about germs. They're everywhere...

What do people think about Councillor Munoz's plans to introduce a curbside recyling program in PG?

They have similar programs in other places and one in particular (in Vernon, BC) does not charge for the service. They simply come and pick it up and go on their way.

I like these types of programs.

What do you think?

There is no such thing as a 'free' service. You pay for it one way or another, possiblly through increased property taxes.

If people want to recycle, they should do so at their own expense.

Well Gus they say 50% of us will get the swine flu. I'd like to not stress about it myself but you gotta do what you gotta do.
The purse thing is gross. Dr. Oz shared that as well. :) Also, lipstick.

Children's indoor play gym's are horrible. Next time you go through the tunnels with your kids lift up a corner of a mat and see for yourself. Also, do they pee their pants in there, not wash their hands after potty....

CaringSoul checking teeth...lol :)

"What do people think about Councillor Munoz's plans to introduce a curbside recyling program in PG?"

I think that if people are too lazy or dont care enough to clean and seperate recyclables and deliver then to the transfer station they are much more likely to participate in this plan.

I agree on tolls if the tolled highway was a second access. That is the case with the Coquihalla. Taht is the case with the tolled highway skirting the norther part of Toronto. That is not the case with the Sea to Sky nor the Cariboo Connector. In both cases, they could be building a separate highway. But that is not the path they chose.

In the case of the connector, if they were to build a four lane from the Cache Creek area through the Duffy Lake Road conenctor to Pemberton, I would say that could be tolled after Lillooet. That would cut the km by about 100+ from here to Georgia Street and with a faster highway all the way, the straight driving time could easily be 8 hours without exceeding speed limits depending on time of day for travel.

Flash ads eat up A LOT of you computer's CPU cycles, too - slows everything down.

"What do people think about Councillor Munoz's plans to introduce a curbside recyling program in PG?"

I think that if people are too lazy or dont care enough to clean and seperate recyclables and deliver then to the transfer station they are much more likely to participate in this plan.

Use Firefox and AdBlockPlus and if you don't like to be a Slave to Windows use "LINUX" ,works great for me.

You are right 'Born in BC'. I will not be using the curbside recycling. Too much hassle. I recycle pop cans and bottles because they pay back, but nothing else.

RE: website ads and ad blockers.
by having to resort to purchasing more software to block ads, we as users of the system are required to take an action and spend our own funds to avoid an intrusion into our use? This places the onus on users. That is like being charged to walk out of our own yard or breath.

They have taken the concept of tv and radio advertising and added steroids to annoy even more people.

RE: dirty flush.
This was reported years ago. myth busters even did some testing. what they found was that the kitchen sink had more germs that were more harmful than the toilet. Then there is the matter of "How long have you been flushing an uncovered toilet?" It seems to me that if it were really such an issue, the media would have jumped all over it and sensationalized it.

RE: curbside recycling
It's about time! We are running out of places to hide our refuse.

There is no cost to get and use Firefox and AdBlocker Plus.

I wonder how long 250 would be around if there were no ads. You want to block the ads, and you still want to get an on line paper for free. I suppose Elaine and Ben should just keep working, and from the posts, some very long hours, just for the hell of it. Sort of Give me what I want and to hell with the rest of you. I live with the 250 ads because I know they need money to operate, just like you need money to live and that is why at least some of you go to work every day.
I can’t believe how some people think.
For God's sake if you don't like the ads start your own site.. let's see how long it lasts.

Loki if you think the ads are an intrusion into your space, then don’t read the site, plain and simple, they didn’t plead with you to sign on. They also, I’m sure, didn’t plead with you to make comments. If you don’t like it, go for a walk in the garden .
I suppose you all would be willing to pay a subscription fee so there would be no need for ads? I thought so....

You're missing the point Trudy. I won't click on the ads so my presence on the site is not generating any revenue via the "click through" method. (ie, the site gets x amount of pennies for every click on that ad).*

However, by being one of the unique hits to this site I am still contributing to the revenue stream because the site owners can use the number of unique hits to show an advertiser that this site is viewed by a lot of people.

*Assuming the click through method is employed here. Otherwise, I am contributing just as much by avoiding the ads as people are who are viewing the ads.

Wow so much anger over ads...honestly is it worth insulting each other over?

I'm not angry; I'm just pointing out that there are options. And I hope I haven't insulted anyone; my apologies if it appears that way. I'm viewing this discussion about the ads as just that, a discussion.

Glad to see the potholes are filled, the airshed is cleaned up, poverty is beaten, the sick are getting the care they need, the war on drugs is over; now we can get down to whining about ads!
Have a good weekend all!

I will be OK in a minute or two - the meds should be kicking in!

In Ladysmith, BC this is done. One week garbage and compost are picked up. The next week recyclables and compost are picked up.
Compost includes fruit and veggies, meat and fish scraps (including bones) bread, pasta, cereal candy, cookies, butter, cheese, coffee grounds, egg shells, pizza boxes, sugar and flour bags, milk cartoons, soiled paper towels, napkins, tissues and soiled waxed cardboard.
Recyclables include clean plastic bags, plastic bottles, food containers, clean plastic wrap, office and computer paper, junk mail, newspaper, glossy brochures, clean cereal boxes, clean laundry soap boxes, shoe boxes, paper bags, egg cartoons, paper envelopes, corrugated cardboard, clean paper towels, clean napkins,clean tissues, clean tin cans, clean aluminium foil, clean plastic utensils, clean plastic plates and bread bag clips.
Garbage includes soiled plastic wraps, soiled diapers, glass, pet excrement(double bagged) soiled sanitary products, pet litter, Styrofoam & meat tray liners.
The system works well and it's all done at curb-side.

RE: ads. @trudy - I thought the majority of complaints were not about ads, or even the number of ads, but how many are animated and always moving with the flash player set to loop. This is a common complaint for many ad-heavy sites, not just this one.

I think this thread is excellent data for the owners of the site and offers them some ideas to enhance the usability and customer experience in the future.

Clearly the people here care about the site, and I think their "negative" opinions about it (ads animation, typos, grammar, etc.) are gold if acted upon.

gus

I dont really see what being a secondary route has to do with anything, but even if I agreed you could avoid the Caribou connector by going east to Clearwater and onto Kamloops.

The bottom line really is would you rather drive that goat trail behind a local slo mo or would you rather pay a reasonable amount for a proper 4 lane?

The Vernon system for curb-side is really good. It use to be $3.50 for on the quartly utility bill. It is not run by the City but is a work program by a group like AMHI. The group earns all the money from the recycables. It is just one bag and they just list what you can't put in it.

I mentioned it to AMHI years ago as I thought it would be a good program for them to start up.

Gus they have enough trouble with the connector in the winter without adding a major road through the Duffy lake area. It would even be worse. There would be Jeep Grand Cherokees all over the place wheels up, just like the connector is now in winter.

billm: one cannot escape the constant bombardment of advertisers. It is the world we live in. At least with tv, one can turn the channel or completely off for 3 minutes every 1/4 hour.

If you look at the history of the internet it was originally developed at the behest of the US military and designed and built by academia using public infrastructure. No one owns the internet. It's original intent was the distribution and access to FREE information over distance in a fault tolerant environment. Then they discovered that people were using it. Then they COMMERCIALIZED it. It was called arpanet before commercialization.

I understand the need for ad revenues for a site that does not support an underlying business like a retailer. I understand that a site can be a revenue source in and of itself.

What I object to is the brazen and overbearing presentation like the ads that take over the screen and cannot be ignored or the site whose apparent focus is providing ad space. I will not click on any ad on the internet and I have instilled that value into my entire family and every person that broaches the subject including the many computer students I have taught.

I happen to appreciate the local news focus of this site and the dialogs that occur. Sometimes we agree, often I appear to be the nut bar. I happen to enjoy poking what ever bear is there and take the position of devils advocate at the drop of a hat. For me it is a fun and open forum to express an opinion on local events and to exchange ideas with others in the same region. I just swallow my ad irritation and proceed any way. I can still bitch about an annoyance, it is my OPINION250.

Flushing. Just an observation. Whatever you are flushing away came out of your body, so any "germs" re already inside you. Actually, in the vast majority of cases, I would ahve thought that the "germs" were actually non-disease causing bacteria and harmless, otherwise you would be racked with constant D and V.

Gotta say it's nice to see pavement going down at Tyner & 16W.

Now I can finally get back to racing past Diplomat. =] j/k

"I mentioned it to AMHI years ago as I thought it would be a good program for them to start up."

Now that is a good solution!

The military industrial complex invented the Internet? I thought Al Gore invented it. I'm crushed.

Teh internetz iz a series of toobzez. Everbodeez nooz dat.

STOLEN CAR

Hi all i am new here.. so i hope i am posting this correctly..

someone stole my car from Carney Street near 15th ave.. in the early hours of Wednesday Sept 16 - it was a 1992 Green Ford Taurus .. the RCMP have not found it yet, and i don't have theft insurance, it had a major anti freeze leak and the theives would not have gotten far.. i was waiting to save up to have my car fixed, I am hoping that when the car overheated they just ditched it on the side of the road,.. if any one thinks they see my stolen car, please contact 5 star towing, .. which unfortunately i will have to pay the tow bill for someone stealing my car.. what is this world coming too.. i can not believe someone would steal my old broken car...

On the T.V. News last night it stated that people are going to have to wait longer for knee and hip replacement. There seems to be a shortage of funds for them. Last night out walking the Big Nothern Health Needle van drove past us on 17th in frount of the school. Are they looking for students ?? We do not want this Van driving around our neighbourhood. How much is this costing ?? You want to talk about polluters I think Nothern Health is one of the greatest. The public consultation meeting Sept.22, 6 to 8 p.m. at the P.G. Civic Center to discuss building a Big facility to house the Citys Downtown health problems , lots of money for this. The great thing is that we can bring in more problems and we will have to build more housing for the Homeless from all over Canada. Neighbours pay attention we know how Nothern Health plays the game, Residential Areas get walked all over.

Hey bitter: I keep saying if you want to stop attracting moths, snuff out the candle. The moths just don't up and die. They go somewhere else. Too simple of logic to cure our problems of a social nature in our downtown. Hoboes, bums, tramps, drifters, surly deadbeat neer do wells and men of that nature are overjoyed and happy when all the do gooders fall all over themselves to provide them a pair of clean socks, a warm bed, and a bowl of soup. The rest of the time these bums can just hang out. The more irresponsible you are, the more they cater to you. Do gooders are just a bunch of enablers bent on justifying their own feel good attitude for helping a certain segment of society that won't help themselves. Grrrr.

Not all do gooders, though. There are exceptions.

"you could avoid the Caribou connector by going east to Clearwater and onto Kamloops"

That is true. I could also drive the blackwater to Quesnel.

In the long run it really does not matter whether anyone sees my point. I was just trying to explain the reasoning that the Ministry of Transportation has. If you think that is not the main reason, then give the Minister's office a call and report back to us what they gave as a reason.

Just wondering,
Anyone interested in volunteering for the winter olympics?
I had been, and am all signed up, but I struggle with the high economic cost that has been placed on the average BC family. I feel torn about supporting athletics, and taking a stand against what I see to be political arrogance!

Thoughts?

The moving ad's are terrible! It's so hard on my eyes and I am young with good eyes!

Why would I volunteer for something that I am being forced to pay for for the next umpteen years?